The Boy
by TheTinyestOne
Summary: Finally they had found him. Collapsed on the side of the road, more than ten years after they had lost him. But the Boy already has a father. The red headed man and his demure wife were not his family. He had one already he didn't need a man who couldn't even successfully find a blind baby, or his own wife. AU Sequel to Above You. OC Hin/Gaa rated M to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

So I knew when I posted the epilogue that it would be controversial. The fact remains that if I hadn't posted that very short epilogue it would have been abandoned. The story is not done, but that part is. There was no where for that plot to go. I felt about a week after I posted it that it should have been the last chapter in _that_ story. But I also knew there would be a sequel but starting a new job with conferences every weekend time got away from me. But I hope you will forgive me on the basis that I have a short story 3-5 chapters to follow it up.

So enjoy the sequel.

The Boy

The world was dark, but it was loud.

Very loud. Rui could hear every small animal, every swish of the wind on the leaves. In this dark world he only had Kieko, his father who taught him how to recognize the different sounds. How to walk without a stick, how to fight relying solely on his ears where Kieko explained that most people had their eyes. But Rui had no eyes. Just scars, someone had stolen his eyes. He didn't who, neither did Kieko. Then in his ninth year they were attacked. Then Rui was on his own, no Kieko to help him negotiate the dark world that surrounded, he walked aimless each day and slept under hedges safe each night until someone attacked him, with sticks. A man and two boys. They had started by throwing stones at him and when he had become out of breathe and sluggish they had hit him hard enough to knock him.

When he came too, he was in a room that smelt like nothing he had ever smelled before. It was a sour smell, strong enough to hurt his nose, he could hear someone talking in the hall, three voices actually. Two women, one strong voiced, another stuttering, was she crying? Then a man whose voice also shook. He tried to hear pasted them, he could hear someone in the room breathing quietly. Slow deep breathes. They were mediatating.

His hands reached up to touch a bandage on head, over the scars where his eyes would be. His face felt different. Before he could touch the bandages covering the scars, he heard the meditating person move, and institutively reached out his hands to grab the person. To defend himself.

"Don't touch them." A gravelly voice advised "You are in Konoha. What do you remember?"

Uncertain, Rui lay his hands in his lap.

"Someone hit me on my head with a wooden stick, they pelted me rocks. Why can't I touch my face?"

The man ignored the question, Rui could sense him to his left, hovering, he had to be a ninja, his movements almost silent and the man didn't flinch.

"One of my best men brought you in. We've been looking for you for ten years boy,"

"Looking for me?" He asked, turning his head towards the voice, as the door let out a grinding noise as it opened. He heard the crying man remark to someone called Naruto that he needed to get that door fixed it had swollen in Konoha's damp climate. He could head the women snuffling as she followed the crying man to his right side, standing only half a foot away from his bed, like they were scared of a blind man in a hospital bed.

"Yes, looking for you, do you have a name boy?" asked the gravelly voice again, and Rui noticed yet another person, standing at the foot of his bed, there was a clatter as they picked up something, the sound of metal hitting wood.

"Rui." He answered, hesitantly "my father called me Rui," He heard the man gasp, and something dropped to the floor with a loud thump. Sounds of sobbing filled the air in the room as the women cried, he heard the man kneel down, and relized that's he had dropped to her knees as the man with the gravelly voice continued as though nothing had happened.

"Rui huh? I am Naruto the Hokage here in Konoha. Do you know what that means?" Rui nodded, and the man, Naruto, continued

"You said your father gave you that name, can you tell me about him?"

"he found me as a baby in the earth country. He said he thought I was a kitten my cry was so weak, he drip fed me goats milk then raised me as his own. Father thought someone stole my eyes and abandoned me, but he knew no one with eye based jutsu were missing a member so he just kept me. He loved me very much, Sir,"

"What was his name?"

"Kieko," He could still hear the sobbing couple to his left, and a horrible thought occurred to him what if they were the couple who his father hadn't found. He had made some inquiries over the years but everyone just assumed he had been abandoned because of his facial deformity. His father had loved so much he had wanted to believe it was true.

A women cleared her throat the person at the end of bed, and he felt the man next to him pull back, as foot steps approached the door, a light switch clicked, on or off he couldn't tell you. Then he heards the rustle of curtains closing before the footsteps came to him.

"Rui I am Uzumaki Sakura, I have been looking after you while you have been in Konoha General. I am going to check you over using my medical ninjutsu now is that okay?" Rui nodded, as he felt her jutsu sink into his skin, where he eyes should be, and he felt movement where previously there had been none. He heard her mumur to the others in the room that everything appeared to be fine, all hooked up, but could Hinata double check. The sobbing women took a loud calming breath and then say an odd word that started with B. She too said it was fine, and Sakura let out a satisfied sigh before he felt her turn back to him.

"Rui, an elder of the Hyuuga clan here in Konoha donated his eyes to you. I know this must be a shock, please understand that the eyes were not given under duress and that while the man who gave them to you was in his thirties they are physically fine. All the pathways are connected so with you permission I would like to remove the bandaging now," Rui for the first time in his short life could not believe his ears. He nodded not trusting his voice, then he felt Sakura reach up to unravel the bandages. As they fell from his face he could see for the first time, the color of his eyelids as Sakura explained that the color he should be able to see was red, and told him to take his time. There was a good chance it would be overwhelming at first. He waited until he adjusted to this strange new color then he reached a hand up to feel the back of the eyes. He _could see_ the imprint of his finger against the lid. He grasped, trying it on the other eye, same thing, then slowly opened them. The room was dark with shapes moving in it.

"We thought it would be best to keep it dark at first," Naruto said to his left, "Sakura says the light might burn your eyes since its been awhile since they used, and you aren't used to having them yet,"

He had no reply to this so instead he reached out his hands to see them for the first time, his eyes adjusting to the dark enough to make out forms, then he looked at Naruto,

"What color is your hair?" He asked, and he heard the man chuckle, "It's yellow, but my kids both have red hair like yours," Rui nodded, his father had explained that he had red hair that never seemed to lie flat and stood out shockingly against his pale skin. He looked to his right, Sakura's hair was light but stood out in the dark of the room.

"Mine is pink," Rui nodded not trusting his voice as he felt something wet leak from his new eyes. He knew what this was, these were tears, Kieko had cried sometimes, he knew the feeling of tears.

 _He had eyes._


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

They had left as soon as the bird arrived. Leaving Kankuro in charge, leaving the maid to pack and follow behind them as they took the fastest carriage to Konoha. Gaara refusing to leave his twenty week pregnant wife on her own. She had barely managed to recover half of pre kidnapping strength and he wasn't about to risk a second kidnapping to gain the baby she carried in her womb.

They pushed as hard as they dared, finally making it to the village, rushing to Konoha general where they found a boy, a small boy, who looked exactly like Gaara. Sakura explained to the couple, who weren't listening, they were just starring at the boy. That the boy was in very good shape but the blood tests showed that he was in fact half Hyuuga, and Temari had submitted her own blood to be tested as well. He was their son. Their baby who had been so cruelly ripped from them years prior. Hinata touched the scar tissue at the sides of his eyes where the byakagun veins would be, her own active. Hoarsely she told him that the boy had indeed had the byakugan before his eyes had been stolen. She then cried so hard, that Sakura had ever so gently knocked her out because she reached hysterics, there was no point taking risks she explained with Hinata being an advanced maternal age and all. Gaara had just nodded numbly, trying to absorb every detail of the boy before him, very aware that as soon as Hinata was in her right mind she would kill him for not telling her that he suspected their son was alive. His hair was long and shaggy, cut unevenly in places, with entire locks much too long, evidence that he had cut them on his own. His boy was as silm as he had been, covered in wiry muscles, his hands covered in scars and callous marks. Naruto leaned against the wall, explaining to Gaara who was only half listening that they had reason to suspect someone had at least trained him to used weapons. They had found some in his backpack. The boy had clearly been on his own for a while before Sasuke had found him. Gaara just nodded, trying to memorize how he looked right there and now.

This boy should have lived a life of idle privilege, the best instructors in the world could have taught him how to be a ninja. He should have fled lessons, and played in the sand castles Gaara could have made him. He should be spoiled and petted by his parents, talk to walk holding his mothers hands up and down the hallways of the Kazekage tower. He should have been cuddled and coddled by his mother, as he got older he could have complained that he was too old to be cuddled like that. Or to hold her hand, and Gaar should have been able to tell him not to snub his mother. While telling Hinata to let the boy turn into a man, it didn't mean he loved her any less. He could feel the tears running down his cheeks as he see the boy raising in front of him calling out for Gaara to catch him as they walked around the walls of Suna, like he had seen Boruto do with Naruto, Shikadai do with his brother in law. A world he had missed out on because someone had stolen his son from him.

He looked at the scars on the boys hands, and imagined kissing those first nicks and cuts better. The kind of scars that every person got as they learned to use weapons. Gently he placed his son hand back on the bed, before places his head in hands to sob in earnest, as he heard Sakura and Naruto discreetly leave the room, Hinata still in an induced sleep on the other bed.

His son lay on this bed, his boy, his baby. His and Hinata's baby. He looked exactly like he always imagined he would deep at night as his wife snored next to him, the quiet snuffles that he had grown used. Someone had tried to take his child from him, and they would pay.

Hinata woke up three hours later, and leaving the boy to Sakura who was going to attempt a eye transplant a pair of eyes donated by a branch member with cancer who would live two weeks more at most. The branch member had come forward as a volunteer when Neji had address the clan about the mystery boy missing eyes. He had had no idea the boy was Hinata's son. They didn't go far just into the next room, but as soon as the door was closed, Hinata let lose. She didn't scream, she didn't shout, she just looked at him lavender eyes hard. It was a look he hadn't seen since they early days of his marriage where he had been besotted with Matsuri. The eyes that said she was furious in that awful cold way of hers, and he would pay.

She slapped him, hard across the face he felt a tooth come out, a molar. But he didn't try to stop the second slap as it came. That one at least didn't take any teeth with it.

"How could you," She hissed, voice unrecognizable. "You knew there was a chance he was alive, and you never told me. I never would have stopped looking for him. _You let me mourn him,_ Gaara,"

He nodded, "I didn't _know_ know. I just had a inkling that he was alive, Hinata please, I couldn't let you search for him. You were on deaths door for years, then you were getting better but no one had seen him. I figured even if he had survived he would be dead by now. I thought you would be better off.." He trailed off, knowing he was doomed. Instead lurching forward to grab her wrists so she couldn't slap him again. She glared at him but didn't fight him.

"You should have told me, that's my baby, they baby that monster ripped from me and _he's alive,"_ There was no answer to that, so he tugged her, and folded her into his arms, feeling their child, the baby in her womb now, stretch out inside of her as he held his wife.


	3. Chapter 3

He didn't mind the women, it probably helped that he had never had a mother , so she had no shoes to fill. She was a pretty lady with a small belly, she quietly explained that he would have a sibling in twenty weeks. This was only her second pregnancy and she blinked back tears as she said it. He commented wryly that he guessed her first hadn't exactly gone to plan. She had just gripped his hand and smiled sadly. Rui had found it quite hard to reconcile this sad women with the picture Naruto had shown him from the bingo books, she had been absolutely amazing in her heyday, and Naruto had assured him that she could still kick all kinds of arse. He had never had a mother before and quite liked the way she bustled about making sure his sheets were tight enough and that the water had been changed on his flowers. Did he eat enough? Did he need some more? Was this water fresh? No? Okay she would change it. His father just lurked, in the room, he would sleep in the small chair by the window, his mother tucked up on a roll away bed on his floor. Neither seemed to be able to have him out of their line of vision for more than ten minutes, not that he could blame them, not really, after what had happened and how long it had taken for someone to find him. No, Rui couldn't blame them at all.

Finally, the time came, after a month of physical therapy, for a decision to be made. Hinata, his mother, needed to return to Suna for the remainder of the pregnancy and his father had been away from what he called his hat too long.

They assured Rui that he didn't have to come with them, they wanted him too, but they didn't want to frighten him either. Rui had always been adept at reading the why behind people, probably more so than a ten year old should be, he had met some of his relatives. His…uncle and aunt? TenTen and Neji had a young daughter his age, along with four other girls, and she was very loud and stupid in Rui's opinion. But no one else seemed to notice this, so he had to assume that his maturity was due to being blind for the first ten years of his life, living on his own for two probably also contributed. So he agreed to going to Suna, Gaara (Rui had yet to call the man father out loud) explained that for now, Rui wouldn't be heralded as the missing heir, Gaara would need to talk to his council first, admitting ruefully that his council was going to be awful about it. Gaara assured him however that he would let them scream if they wanted too. Certainly there were no questions about Rui's paternity, he looked exactly like Gaara had at the same age, except for the eyes, which were his mothers familys eyes, of course. To this end, there would likewise be no hiding Rui once they did make it back to Suna, Gaara refused to let his wife travel on his own, nor his son for that matter, so Temari would go ahead to brief the council let them know the Kazekages son had been found, then Gaara could deal with there tantrums straight away and hopefully Suna could celebrate.

His first impression of Suna, was sand. There was so much of it, he stayed at his mothers side looking out the window of the train they were travelling on, occasionally she would point out sights. But they mostly traveled in silence. His father was reading reports on a table to the side. He watched his wife a lot, Rui noticed, she was steadily ignoring him though. When they were an hour from Suna, she carefully got up and changed into a pretty blue and white dress, she piled her purple hair, shot with grey into a crown of plaits around her head, and put a hair piece in, that had shiny jewels. They matched her earring and necklace. She also handed him a pair of blue trousers and a crisp white shirt.

"To match your father," she commented quietly, "I know we discussed that you wouldn't be heralded as heir, but I don't think we can avoid our people noticing the similarities between you two. This won't help that, but your father and I agree we don't want to hide you away, you are ours and deserve to be cherished as ours," Gaara nodded, but didn't say anything. He hadn't at all other the logistics of the trip. Rui wondered if he was naturally just quiet or if his father was at a lost. The cuff links of the shirt Hinata had handed him, were silver with the symbol of Suna etched in them , he fumbled trying to do them up. A hand lay over his, and to his shock Gaara said

"Let me, please," His voice shook, it was the first non business thing Gaara had said to him, and Rui realized that his silence had not been shyness but simply his emotions had been too much for him to acknowledge. He reached up and touched Gaara's face gently, and smiled. In the back of his mind he wondered what Kieko had looked like, it made him sad to think he had never known what the man who raised him had looked like. The train began to slow, and Gaara adjusted his hat, then offered Hinata his arm, which she took without looking at him, reaching out to hold Rui's on his other side. Together they stepped off the train onto the platform to crowds, Rui noticed the Councillors on one side of a barrier. Hinata quietly explained that the Kazekage's family had never been away this long before, their coming home had garnered quite the attention. Rui knew the moment the crowd had spotted him, they went absolutely silent. Then their were cheers, he could hear open speculation that he was the baby Lady Hinata had lost, and noticed a smile tucked away on his mothers face as his father led them towards the big tower. The Councillors looked furious, but Rui had the idea that Gaara was quite proud of the picture he was painting of the 3 of them.


End file.
